Adjustable doffer support for high pile fabric knitting machines

ABSTRACT

An adjustable support is provided for accurately and selectively mounting, and adjusting the position of, the doffer of a sliver feeding means for a high pile fabric knitting machine. The doffer is mounted rotatably in spaced bearings supported by stationary yokes disposed on opposite sides of the frame of the sliver feeding means. By means of plural interchangeable spacer plates, the bearings may be adjusted selectively within their yokes to position the doffer quickly, accurately and selectively with respect to the main cylinder of the sliver feeding means and the needles of the knitting machine.

United States Patent Thore Dec. 30, 1975 ADJUSTABLE DOFFER SUPPORT FOR10,479 1888 United Kingdom 19/98 HIG I FABRIC KNITTING MACHINES 177,4723/1922 United Kingdom 66/9 B Inventor: Thomas J. Thore, Tarboro, NC.

Assignee: Glenoit Mills, Inc., New York, NY.

Filed: Mar. 1, 1974 Appl. No.: 447,282

US. Cl. 66/9 B; 19/106 R Int. Cl. D04B 9/14 Field of Search 19/106 R,98', 66/9 B;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l/1894 Parsons 308/26 X 7/1927Johnson... 308/244 6/1951 Fischer 308/26 7/1963 Moore 66/9 B X FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1892 United Kingdom 19/98 PrimaryExaminer-D0rsey Newton Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Miller, Frailey &Prestia [57] ABSTRACT 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures USQ Patfint Dec. 30,1975 SheetlofZ 3,928,986

US. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Sheet 2 of 2 ADJUSTABLE DOFFER SUPPORT FOR HIGHPILE FABRIC KNITTING MACHINES SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This inventionpertains to an improved doffer support for high pile fabric knittingmachines, and more particularly to a new, adjustable support for thedoffer, which permits easy, rapid and accurate setting of the doffer, asdesired or required, with respect to the main cylinder of the sliverfeeding means and the needle cylinder of the knitting machine.

The accurate setting of the doffer of a high pile fabric knittingmachine has proven to be extremely difficult and complicated, due to thestructure of such machine and the limited amount of space between thesliver feeding mechanism and the needle cylinder. Yet, it is extremelycritical, in the setting up of such a machine, that the wire-covereddoffer be set accurately and uniformly with respect to both thewire-covered main cylinder and the needles of the knittingv machine. Ifthe setting is not correct, or if it is uneven in any respect, severeproblems result, such as unsatisfactory fabric, broken needles and bentor broken sinkers. Further, if the doffer is not set uniformly withrespect to both the needle cylinder and the main cylinder, the needleswill not properly rake the sliver fibers from the doffer, nor will thesliver fibers properly transfer from the main cylinder to the doffer.

The present invention overcomes the difficulties and disabilities in themounting and setting of doffers for high pile knitting machines, andprovides, for the first time, a simple, quick and accurate means foraccomplishing this.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedsupport for doffers for high pile knitting machines, which enables thedoffer to be quickly, easily and accurately mounted and set with respectto the needles of the knitting machine and the main cylinder of thesliver feeding means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a support for a dofferwhereby the doffer may be adjusted selectively with respect to both theneedles and the main cylinder.

A further object is to provide an adjustable support for a doffer whichpermits rapid change in the setting of the doffer, and ensures that ineach setting, the doffer is disposed uniformly with respect to both theneedle and the main cylinder.

A further object is to provide a doffer support which substantiallyreduces or eliminates such problems as faulty fabric, broken needles andbent and broken sinkers resulting from inaccurate doffer settings.

A further object is to provide a doffer support comprising a pair ofspaced stationary yokes secured to the frame of a sliver feeding means,a bearing disposed in each yoke, for supporting rotatably the doffershaft, plural spacer plates retained by the yokes and disposed in groupsabout the bearings, such spacers being interchangeable selectivelybetween opposing groups, to adjust the bearings selectively relative totheir yokes, and locking means for securing the ensemble in place duringoperation of the knitting machine.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent fromthe following disclosure of the preferred embodiment thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, partially sectionedview of a sliver feeding means of a high pile fabric knitting machine,incorporating the adjustable doffer support of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in section looking in the direction of thearrows 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, exploded view of the elements forming theimproved doffer support of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1, there is shown a sliverfeeding means or device 19 for delivering sliver to the needles of ahigh pile fabric knitting machine (not shown). The knitting machineincludes the needles 20, needle cylinder 22 and ring gear 24. The latterrotates with the needle cylinder and meshes with the usual pinion 26 toimpart driving power to the sliver feeding device 19.

The sliver feeding means is of the type disclosed in my co-pending U.S.patent application, Ser. No. 304,099 filed Nov. 6, 1972 entitled SliverFeeding Means for High Pile Fabric Knitting Machines. The device 19includes the usual wire-covered doffer 28 and main cylinder 30 fortransferring sliver from a source (not shown) to the needles 20 of theknitting machine. The doffer and main cylinder are caused to rotate bythe driven pinion 26 through conventional drive mechanism (not shown).The sliver feeding device 19 includes frame 32 for mounting the usualrotatable elements of the device 19. Frame 32 is affixed to the headring 34, forming part of the knitting machine structure.

The doffer 28 comprises a hollow cylinder 36 (FIG. 2) secured by anysuitable means, such as bolt 38, to the rotatable shaft 40. Fixed to theperiphery of the cylinder 36, by glue or cement, is the usual dofferwire covering 42. Shaft 40 is supported for rotation, at opposite endsof the doffer 28, by spaced bearings 44 each of which is mounted in abearing block 46.

The bearing blocks 46 are provided with axially extending bores 48, theinner portions 49 of which are enlarged to accommodate the bearings 44in a force fit. The bearings 44 seat against the annular shoulders 50formed at the inner terminus of the enlarged bores 49. By means of thisconstruction, the bearings 44 are prevented from being forced out oftheir respective bearing blocks 46.

Each bearing block 46 is of rectangular configuration, and is disposedwithin a corresponding rectangular cavity 52 formed in the upper portionof a yoke 54. The pair of yokes 52 are mounted on opposite sides offrame 32 by bolts 56, 57.

The upper portions 60 of the spaced yokes 54 are inclined in thedirection of the needles at an angle preferably on the order of 15. Byreason of this construction, the doffer 28 is disposed operativelybetween the main cylinder 30 and the needles, to properly engage bothelements to transfer sliver fibers from the main cylinder to theneedles. This also facilitates removal of the doffer.

The upper portion of each cavity 52 is closed by means of an elongatedcap 62 secured to the top of the upper portion 60 of its yoke 54 bybolts 64, 65.

Disposed along each of the four sides of each rectangular bearing block46 are a plurality of individual, flat, elongated spacer plates, bestshown in FIG. 3. The spacer plates 68, disposed adjacent the top and thebottom sides of the bearing block 46, are of like configuration and areinterchangeable. Similarly, the spacer plates 70, disposed along thefront and rear sides of block 46, are of like configuration and areinterchangeable. ln the preferred arrangement, as shown in FIG. 3, thereis provided a total of six spacers 68 and a total of six spacers 70 foreach yoke 54. The spacers 68, 70, together with a bearing block 46, fitsnugly within the cavity 52 of the yoke, when the doffer support isassembled.

To prevent axial movement of bearing block 46 and spacers 70, the cavity52 is provided with opposing pairs of pins 72, 73 extending inwardly ofthe cavity. Pins 72, 73 engage, respectively, elongated channels 75, 76formed along opposite sides of bearing block 46. This arrangementpermits block 46 to be inserted into cavity 52, with pins 72, 73engaging slidably within channels 75, 76, respectively.

Spacers 70 are provided with elongated slots 78 for reception of thepins 7 2, 73. When spacer plates 70 are inserted in the cavity 52, onopposite sides of bearing block 46, their slots 78 provide a clearancefor pins 72, 73, thereby permitting the spacers 70 to be insertedcompletely into the cavity.

Spacer plates 68 are formed with relatively short slots 80, 81 at theopposite ends thereof. The slots 80, 81 are of a width sufficient topermit spacers 68 to pass over pins 72, 73 and be deposited in thebottom of cavity 52. The respective outer ends of slots 80, 81 arewidened sufficiently to permit the spacers 68 to slide over the opposingribs 83, 84 of yoke 54, which extend inwardly of the cavity 52, and fromwhich pins 72, 73 extend.

The pins 72, 73 engage snugly with the slots 78 and channels 75, 76, andribs 83, 84 engage snugly with the widened portions of slots 80. Thus,when the parts are assembled, and cap 62 is secured in place by bolts64, 65, the entire ensemble is rigidly retained within cavity 52. Byreason of the construction just described, the bearings 44, bearingblocks 46 and spacers 68, 70 are maintained against axial displacementrelative to the yokes 54.

When the spacers 68, 70, or some of them, are removed from the cavity52, bearing block 46 and its bearing 44 have capacity for selectedtransverse movement or adjustment, either fore or aft or up or down,within the cavity. The pins 72, 73 engaging within slots 75, 76 permitsuch multi-directional transverse movement, while retaining block 46against axial movement within the cavity.

Generally, in a normal setting, three spacers are disposed on each sideof the bearing block 46. Because the individual spacers of each pair ofgroups of spacers 68, 70 are of like construction, and interchangeable,it is possible to vary the number of individual spacers in each group ofspacers, and thereby adjust the position of the bearing block 46relative to its cavity 52. For example, by reducing the number ofspacers 70 in the forward group to two spacers and increasing the numberin the rear group to four spacers 70, the block 46 will be advancedslightly within its cavity 52. Similarly, removing one spacer 68 fromthe bottom of cavity 52, and placing it at the top thereof, above block46, will have the result of adjusting block 46 slightly downward, withrespect to its cavity 52.

Selectively varying the number of spacers 68, 70 in the opposing groupof spacers, in the manner just described, permits selective adjustmentof the position of doffer 28 relative to needles and main cylinder 30.

Thus, to adjust the doffer closer to the needles, one, two or all threeof the spacers 68 in the bottom of the cavity 52 may be removed andadded to the group of spacers 68 at the top of bearing block 46. Toadjust the doffer away from the needles, a selected number of spacers 68are removed from the upper group thereof, and added to the group at thebottom of the cavity.

Similarly, to adjust doffer 28 closer to the main cylinder 30, aselected number of spacers 70 are removed from the group closest to themain cylinder, and added to the group on the opposite side of block 46.To adjust the doffer away from the main cylinder, a selected number ofspacers are removed from the group of spacers 70 closest to the needles20, and added to the group of spacers 70 closest to the main cylinder.In all cases, of course, it is necessary to remove bolts 64 and 65 andcap 62, in order to affect the interchange of spacers from one opposinggroup to the other.

In practice, it has been found that spacer plates having a width of 1/32inch are completely adequate to provide the desired increments ofadjustment of the doffer relative to the needles and main cylinder.However, it is within the scope of this invention to provide spacers 68,70 in varying widths and numbers, as may be desired or required. Forexample, the spacers could be made 1/64 inch in width and a total oftwelve or more of each type could be provided, if desired.

By reason of the foregoing construction, it is possible to adjust andset the doffer easily, accurately and uniformly, with a minimumexpenditure of time, in respect to the needles 20 and the main cylinder30. Doffer adjustments of the type here described frequently arerequired in preparing a high pile fabric knitting machine for operation.Adjustment of the doffer setting frequently is required to compensatefor variations in the length of the wires of the wire coverings of themain cylinder and doffer, and also to compensate for glue or cementbuild-up on the doffer periphery, which occurs as a result of frequentreplacement of the wire coverings.

Although a preferred embodiment of this inventions has been shown anddescribed for the purpose of illustration, as required by Title 35U.S.C. ll2, it is to be understood that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit andutility of this invention, or the scope thereof as set forth in theappended claims.

1 claim:

1. In a sliver feeding device for a high pile fabric knitting machinehaving a circle of needles, said device having a main cylinder and adoffer, with the doffer being disposed between the main cylinder and theneedles and mounted on a rotatable shaft, an adjustable support formounting the doffer selectively relative to the needles and maincylinder, comprising:

a. a pair of spaced stationary yokes for supporting the doffer shaft,

b. a cavity in each yoke,

c. a bearing block in each cavity having capacity for multi-directionaltransverse movement within the cavity,

d. said bearing blocks retaining the doffer shaft rotatably,

e. adjustment means within the cavities for displacing the bearingblocks transversely, to locate the bearing blocks at selected positionswithin the cavities. with consequent mounting of the doffer selectivelyrelative to the needles and main cylinder,

f. said adjustment means comprising spaced, opposing groups ofinterchangeable spacers, the spacers of each group being transferrableselectively to their opposite group of spacers,

g. retention means to maintain the bearing blocks against bothtransverse and axial displacement at each of their selected positionswithin their cavities, and

h. said retention means including pins within each cavity engageablewith channels in the bearing block in the cavity.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein a. the bearing blocks and cavitiesare of rectangular configuration,

b. the spacers are disposed in opposing groups about each bearing block,

0. said spacers being individually interchangeable between opposinggroups of spacers, and

(I. said retention means includes locking means to maintain the bearingblocks and spacers rigidly within their respective cavities.

3. The invention of claim 1, wherein the retention means includes:

a. fixed pins within the cavities for engaging within elongated channelsin the bearing blocks in the cavities to retain the bearing blocksagainst axial displacement, while permitting multi-directionaltransverse movement of the bearing blocks within their cavities, and

b. locking means to maintain the bearing blocks and spacers rigidlywithin their respective cavities at each selected position of thebearing blocks.

4. A doffer mount for a high pile fabric knitting machine, the dofferincluding a rotatable shaft, said mount comprising a. spaced bearingsupports,

b. a bearing in each bearing support for mounting the doffer shaftrotatably at spaced locations of the shaft,

c. a plurality of spacers distributed in opposing groups about thebearings,

d. the spacers of each group being transferable individually to theiropposing group, to impart transverse displacement of the bearings toselected locations, and

e. retention means operable to maintain the bearings against bothtransverse and axial displacement at each selected location of thebearings,

f. said retention means including fixed pins engageable within channelsassociated with the hearings to retain the bearings against axialdisplacement, while permitting selected multi-directional transversemovement of the bearings within the bearing supports.

5. The doffer mount of claim 4, wherein a. the bearings are disposed inbearing blocks,

b. the bearing blocks are provided with elongated channels and c. thefixed pins engage slidably within the elongated channels of the bearingblocks.

6. The doffer mount of claim 5, wherein a. the spaced bearing supportscomprise cavities having a rectangular configuration,

b. the bearing blocks are of rectangular configuration, and are adaptedto be disposed within the cavities with capacity for multi-directionaltransverse movement therein, and

c. the spacers are disposed in opposing groups about each rectangularbearing block, said spacers being individually interchangeable betweenopposing groups of spacers to permit transverse displacement of thebearings to selected locations, with consequent mounting of the dofferselectively relative to the knitting machine.

1. In a sliver feeding device for a high pile fabric knitting machinehaving a circle of needles, said device having a main cylinder and adoffer, with the doffer being disposed between the main cylinder and theneedles and mounted on a rotatable shaft, an adjustable support formounting the doffer selectively relative to the needles and maincylinder, comprising: a. a pair of spaced stationary yokes forsupporting the doffer shaft, b. a cavity in each yoke, c. a bearingblock in each cavity having capacity for multidirectional transversemovement within the cavity, d. said bearing blocks retaining the doffershaft rotatably, e. adjustment means within the cavities for displacingthe bearing blocks transversely, to locate the bearing blocks atselected positions within the cavities, with consequent mounting of thedoffer selectively relative to the needles and main cylinder, f. saidadjustment means comprising spaced, opposing groups of interchangeablespacers, the spacers of each group being transferrable selectively totheir opposite group of spacers, g. retention means to maintain thebearing blocks against both transverse and axial displacement at each oftheir selected positions within their cavities, and h. said retentionmeans including pins within each cavity engageable with channels in thebearing block in the cavity.
 2. The invention of claim 1, wherein a. thebearing blocks and cavities are of rectangular configuration, b. thespacers are disposed in opposing groups about each bearing block, c.said spacers being individually interchangeable between opposing groupsof spacers, and d. said retention means includes locking means tomaintain the bearing blocks and spacers rigidly within their respectivecavities.
 3. The invention of claim 1, wherein the retention meansincludes: a. fixed pins within the cavities for engaging withinelongated channels in the bearing blocks in the cavities to retain thebearing blocks against axial displacement, while permittingmulti-directional transverse movement of the bearing blocks within theircavities, and b. locking means to maintain the bearing blocks andspacers Rigidly within their respective cavities at each selectedposition of the bearing blocks.
 4. A doffer mount for a high pile fabricknitting machine, the doffer including a rotatable shaft, said mountcomprising a. spaced bearing supports, b. a bearing in each bearingsupport for mounting the doffer shaft rotatably at spaced locations ofthe shaft, c. a plurality of spacers distributed in opposing groupsabout the bearings, d. the spacers of each group being transferableindividually to their opposing group, to impart transverse displacementof the bearings to selected locations, and e. retention means operableto maintain the bearings against both transverse and axial displacementat each selected location of the bearings, f. said retention meansincluding fixed pins engageable within channels associated with thebearings to retain the bearings against axial displacement, whilepermitting selected multi-directional transverse movement of thebearings within the bearing supports.
 5. The doffer mount of claim 4,wherein a. the bearings are disposed in bearing blocks, b. the bearingblocks are provided with elongated channels and c. the fixed pins engageslidably within the elongated channels of the bearing blocks.
 6. Thedoffer mount of claim 5, wherein a. the spaced bearing supports comprisecavities having a rectangular configuration, b. the bearing blocks areof rectangular configuration, and are adapted to be disposed within thecavities with capacity for multi-directional transverse movementtherein, and c. the spacers are disposed in opposing groups about eachrectangular bearing block, said spacers being individuallyinterchangeable between opposing groups of spacers to permit transversedisplacement of the bearings to selected locations, with consequentmounting of the doffer selectively relative to the knitting machine.